UPDATE 13/11/2009
SmartBeautyShop have now revised their shipping prices to be based on weight.
Up to 100g will cost £1.78, over 400g: £2.64 and so on.
Good stuff SmartBeautyShop!
I’ve had a few emails and DMs on Twitter with regards to buying NYX Cosmetics in the US. I’m aware that NYX is starting to be more readily available in the UK at sites such as SmartBeautyShop which is fantastic! No more worries about import duty, long shipping times etc…
but…
Let me give you a little run down of the costs involved here…
SmartBeautyShop doesn’t have the Round Lipglosses in stock, so I’ll exclude that item from both baskets.
Let’s do Cherry Culture first:
That’s my shopping list (minus the lipgloss). The exchange rate conversion is correct as of 24/10/2009 and I’ve actually rounded *up* the values to the nearest 5 pence. E.g. The Jumbo Eyeshadow was actually £1.82
I haven’t included it in the shopping list total, but I also used a 20% discount code… so my eventual bill was closer to £22.
Now whilst I’m happy to pay Import Duty… I object to paying Royal Mail an £8 handling fee ontop of this, so I endeavour to avoid crossing the Import Duty threshold which is £18.
My goods order (inc. lipgloss and discount code) came to: £16.10 so I had a clear margin for exchange rate fluctuation. You don’t include the cost of shipping in the £18 calculation… however, HMRC will include the cost of shipping in calculating the duty to be paid by you if your order value exceeds £18. Does that make sense? It confuses the hell out of me!
Ok, now that we’re all completely confudgeulated… let’s take the simpler route and shop for NYX in the UK!
Hoorah!
Um..
£56.95?
*double checks*
Um…
Are you freakin’ kidding me?
No, no there it is… 4 lippies, 6 eyeshadows and a Jumbo Pencil… oh and shipping.
Wait a minute? £7.50 for Royal Mail Inland postage?
But that’s more expensive than Cherry Culture all the way from the US? And I personally consider Cherry Culture to be a little pricey on shipping!
Now, I do understand that SmartBeautyShop et al have to mark prices up… of course they do! They’re importing from the US, they’re the middle men… they have overheads that are much greater than Cherry Culture’s.
They can charge what they want… but you won’t see me buying NYX in the UK anytime soon that’s for sure.
Confusion over international shipping or not… there’s no way I’m gonna justify paying over double for the simplicity of shopping this side of the pond.
How about you? Will you be buying NYX in the UK now that it’s becoming more available? Or saving up your pennies for US orders?
Thats exactly what i thought when i saw a blogpost on smartbeautyshop then saw their prices! I would rather ebay purchases for much less or buy from various US sites.
To think we want to buy nyx because they are lower price points is defeated when buying from uk sites that charge abit more. Just my opinion.
Thanks for the comparison, great post!
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That is absolutely ridiculous!! How can the shipping be more expensive!!
Think I will stick to ordering from the US thanks!!
Great post xx
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I bought all my NYX when Cherry Culture (and some other site – can’t remember what it was) NYX had their 10 y anniversary sale and it was all 50% off.
If I were to any more NYX (highly unlikely though as I RINSED that sale!!), I’d stick to CC stateside.I really don’t understand why it costs double to order here.
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That’s absolutely crazy! Thanks for the post though it was very informative x
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I have got a few bits from love make up and cocktail cosmetics which aren’t bad
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I was going to ask about this, I’m so glad you’ve blogged about it. Methinks the US wins for sure! xx
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I know I’m going to get killed for this but I don’t really see the fuss about NYX. Are they like the stateside version of Sleek? By that I mean cheap, well pigmented makeup.
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I usually get mine from http://www.mscuppycakes.com, her shipping can be sometimes slow when she’s backed up on orders, but most of the time i get a free gift to make up for it! Plus the round lipsticks are only $1.25, and her shipping to the UK is minimal (from what i remember its about $4), she also stocks Red Cherry Lashes which are amazing, and only $2!!!
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Ho hum – back to the drawing board indeed. Thanks for this. Will let you know if I find a cheaper UK seller not already mentioned here.
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@Ally – You’re welcome.. and you’re totally right about it defeating half the point of NYX – so silly!
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@JoBetterDays – Dunno, that shipping is crazy wrong.
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@Vexinthecity – Yeah. well we don’t all have exotic boyfriends over in the US to send our stuff to… show off
xx Has he got a spare room for all my shit I want to buy?
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@Sarah – You’re welcome! x
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@Louise – Thanks for the heads up x
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@Kim – It most certainly does!
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@Rhamnousia – It is yes, although the shadows don’t crumble and the lipsticks are better. It’s better than Sleek (imo)
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@LauryNathan – I had a bad experience with MsCuppyCakes I’m afraid. it’s all documented here if you want to have a look
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@Sarah – Please do! x
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I called this shop and spoke to someone about the shipping prices (just thought I’d give it a shot) and they said it was a technical problem with their site and they have now revised ALL shipping costs, so now they ship on weight rather than quanitity of items ordered.
So up to 100g of make up (which is about 8 eye shadows) only costs about £1.68 – I placed an order in the end, even though I live near (stupid I know). I said that NYX is available at much cheaper prices and that we are more likely to get them elsewhere cheaper. They told me that they buy direct from the license holder of NYX in the UK and they have to cover the cost of getting it over here. i got a call back later to say that the license holder checked Cherry Culture out and said that their products were end of the line stock so they can get away with selling it that cheaply.
The girl at SB was a bit disappointed that they can’t sell it as cheap but I guess they were trying to do the nice thing by making it available here.
My parcel arrived next day and they threw in some free hair gems as a gift to say thanks! Just thought I should let you know that they were quite nice about it and have fixed the shipping problem. I wouldn’t have bought from them if they didn’t cause the charges WERE ridiculous.
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@MissAlexa – That’s great to hear
Thanks for taking the time to let us know!
I think we all understand that we’re not going to get it as cheap as in the US… unless it’s manufactured here, it’s simply not possible. But pleased that the shipping prices have been revised.. makes it a lot more tempting!
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Oh my God! Like you, I always thought, “Nah, Cherry Culture charges too much for shipping”, and then I was really excited when I heard you could get NYX from Smart Beauty- but I obviously didn’t look at the prices properly! Ridiculous! I’m so glad I read this- am new to your blog, only found out about it today- for what it’s worth, I haven’t been able to stop reading on here for the last hour, I think you’re fab!
xx
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Thankfully they’ve revised the shipping prices just recently (check out the update bit at the top). For me, I’d still rather take advantage of a Cherry Culture haul when there’s a code about. 20% discount over already cheap prices makes a wonderful difference!!
And… It is *most* worth it, you’ve genuinely made my day with your thoughtful and kind comments – thank you so much, I think you’re rather fab too! xx
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